Art in Embassy

/

Art in Embassy - a pilot project in Washington DC
An exhibition of contemporary Danish art, crafts and design opened September 2016 at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington DC. The exhibition is a cooperation between the Danish Embassy and the Danish Arts Foundation, which generously has lend the works of art to the embassy.

With this exhibition the embassy becomes a unique platform for contemporary Danish art in the U.S. The embassy building is in itself an outstanding example of Danish 1960's functionalism in architecture and design, created by the Danish architecht Wilhelm Lauritzen and the designer Finn Juhl. The exhibition of contemporary art in this iconic building makes the embassy an ideal platform for dialogue about the continuous development and renewal of Danish architecture, art and design. A dialogue that guests to the embassy are invited to participate in!

The works of art chosen for this exhibition are works that do not simply serve as decoration – instead they boldly raise questions that can foster conversation. The works play to a high degree on our expectations of what ’art’ is and how it is created. Many of the artists balance between crafts/visual arts/sculpture and experiment with materials and forms of expression. Just as Lauritzen’s and Juhl’s design in their day helped set new architectural and design agendas.

This is the first time the Danish Art Foundation has loaned such a large number of works to an embassy abroad. The Danish Art Foundation has entered into this collaboration and the pilot project in order to demonstrate what it means to lift the level of artistic ambition in the interior design of Danish embassies, which creates the framework for many encounters between Danish and international culture and diplomacy. The project is also an occasion to present the Danish democratic system of art support, which is unique in the international context.

Established artists whose works are represented in museum collections internationally and young, new artists are included in the exhibition.